You found a forum or a blog that you really like, or one where you think a product or service you have to offer would be wanted, or alternately, you contacted someone on a social network. You made a post that couldn't possibly have upset anyone, or maybe even all you did was click the "add" or "edit" button...

Banned? "Blocked at the request of the user?"

You have been Mistakenly Banned. This tends to happen in at least two main subtypes:

The "accidentally stepping on toes" form is that you did something that, unknown to yourself due to [[{{Noob}} lack of experience]] made you look like trouble. In Type A, you're doing something the place or person considers wrong or a violation of netiquette, but you didn't know you were. Ways to invoke type A of this trope include...* That post promoting your band or business or whatever looked like a HitAndRunPoster or a {{Spammer}}. (Most forums and other social media venues tend to look very suspiciously upon people who post a link or promotional topic and don't otherwise contribute, for example.)* A political statement you made or a glowing review made you look like you were engaging in AstroTurf.* You brought up a topic that, unknown to your knowledge, [[InternetBackdraft was not a welcome one to discuss.]]* Your {{Twitter}} or Facebook consisted solely of [[{{Flog}} what appeared]] [[{{Spammer}} to be advertisements]], you regularly post things the person you added doesn't [[ShockSite want]] [[TooMuchInformation to]] [[AttentionWhore see]], or you [[LoonyFan appear to be]] or [[GossipEvolution have been rumored to be]] a stalker or other threat.* You hit a FandomBerserkButton or said something considered to be FandomHeresy or MaliciousSlander.* You were [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy really]] [[WhatDidIDoLastNight drunk]], [[MushroomSamba high]], [[TheMentallyDisturbed having an episode of mental illness]] or [[UsefulNotes/{{Trigger}} triggered]] and got into an argument or otherwise [[Administrivia/TropingUnderTheInfluence said/posted things that you wouldn't have done sober or well]]. * On ThisVeryWiki, your computer is running Net Nanny type software and accidentally made you a BluenoseBowdlerizer, you blank a page (or cut out a large portion of it) rather than direct it to the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop or CutList, or your writing skills are of such low quality that your edits literally cannot be understood or look like txt spk.* You edited a page that's been under EditWar conditions in such a way that looks like you're part of the edit war (this one can even happen to experienced editors).

The "entirely innocent" form is that whatever happened was no fault of your own. Things that can lead and have led to this include:* You picked a username that, for some reason, resembled that of a past {{Spammer}} or {{Troll}} or someone once involved in drama of some sort.* Someone else in your dorm or house could have been a WikiVandal or a {{Troll}}.* Someone made a mistake on entering the IP or used an entire range block. Or they mistakenly or intentionally blocked all IP addresses from a certain location or service, or prohibited people from signing up from certain e-mail providers.* Someone hacked your account and/or otherwise posed as you for some reason. [[labelnote:Explanation]]This is actually one of the most common claims of ''actual'' {{troll}}s or other internet riffraff trying to claim innocence - unless the hacking or the impersonator was so OutOfCharacter that people immediately noticed it, you need to have an alibi almost more solid than one you'd have for court to get your account/privileges/reputation back. In the worst cases involving the more WretchedHive type locations, you can't even get the hacked/troll posts ''deleted'' even with objective proof of impersonation).[[/labelnote]]* The person you tried to add had been shunned by half your friendslist and assumes you're just adding him as a part of your friends' drama.* If the site you just registered on invokes a ban, and accepts/expects donations, then it is possibly a rort to fleece users into paying for membership. See AllegedlyFreeGame and FourOneNineScam.

A hybrid of both type A and type B is appearing to be a SockPuppet or MeatPuppet, especially of a banned user, TheGadfly, or a {{Troll}}.

Either way, [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle the best way to handle this]] is usually to step back, analyze your behavior to make sure your ban wasn't thoroughly deserved, and then try to speak calmly to someone in charge of the site, or to someone who knows the person, to ask what is wrong.

(On ThisVeryWiki, we have [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=5cma6iojg5o27puhulc24sje the Edit Banned thread]] to handle such situations.)

Keep in mind that actual spammers, trolls and other scoundrels often pretend innocence, and that making a SockPuppet for ban evasion is, in many places on the Internet, itself a bannable offense.

The justification for mistakenly banning people, on the part of site admins, is that it's far easier to keep out some online users than to deal with them [[{{Troll}} once they've]] [[GarbagePostKid made a]] [[{{Spammer}} mess]]. Related to AstroTurf, EditWar, FandomBerserkButton, FanDumb, FanHater, FlameWar, GarbagePostKid, HateDumb, InternetBackdraft, {{Spammer}}, {{Troll}}, and WikiVandal for the actions that can lead to people actually uninvolved in them being Mistakenly Banned. TheGadfly is someone who is mistaken for {{Troll}} and may be subject to this.

''[[ExampleSectionectomy No examples, please.]]'' - this is ''not'' a page made for filing complaints about being banned. We don't want any flame wars, do we?----